Walter Benjamin was in Moscow for two months, between 1926 and 1927. The account of this particular journey holds a prominent place in his writings, due to the sincere and uncompromising struggle that the German-Jewish thinker had both with his motives and with his conscience. It seems that the initial reason for that trip was Asia Latčs, a Latvian who had become a significant emotional and spiritual influence on him.

Benjamin's diary is, on one hand, the depiction of a difficult romantic relationship where the object of desire is elusive and rather unfeeling. On the other hand, it is the story of a failed romance with the Revolution. For Benjamin went to Russia not only to gain a firsthand image of Soviet society but also to make a final decision about whether to become a member of the Communist Party.

The Moscow Diary represents more than a testimony of ideological ambivalence, the dilemmas experienced by an intellectual. Its aesthetic value is also significant. For Benjamin proves here to be one of the most penetrating physiognomists of Moscow during the twentieth century, crafting an unforgettable winter portrait of the city.

“Benjamin’s diary during his two-month stay in Moscow, from December 6, 1926, to the end of January 1927, is, as far as I can say knowing its remnants, a literally unique work. It is indeed, beyond any doubt, the most personal, utterly and relentlessly honest testimony we have regarding an important part of his life. None of the other diary-type essays that have been preserved, which always interrupt after a few pages, can compare with this one – not even the very personal thoughts he recorded in 1932 when he contemplated taking his own life.” – Gershom Scholem

“The Moscow Diary is a key text for understanding the psyche of the author of a bulky, multifaceted, and primarily rhizomatic work, which, fortunately, still (will) resist the desperate attempts of philologists, philosophers, and theorists to penetrate, interpret, and, if possible, appropriate the Benjaminian Universe.” – Kostas Th. Kalpouzos